The Soundtrack of the Psalms (pt 1): Lament, Lordship, and a Life-Time of Longing Psalms 1–41 | 07.09.2017 | Psalms I waited patiently for the Lord / He inclined and heard my cry He brought me up out of the pit / Out of the miry clay I will sing, sing a new song / I will sing, sing a new song How long to sing this song? / How long to sing this song? Those are words from Psalm 40. Written by King David some 3,000 years ago. AND . They are also the words of Bono, lead singer for U2. from a song entitled ‘40’ . which comes from Psalm 40. And They are the words of 1000s of people singing along with U2 at a concert in Germany If you listen to the song on their live album. you’ll hear the crowd singing Singing words . which David wrote to praise God for his salvation. Singing words . greater than they knew they were singing. This is how the Psalms work . They give expression to the deepest of emotions of humanity. Even for unbelievers . their beauty and poetry touches the soul. Yet . the Psalms are not meant to be sung without understanding. As Paul said in 1 Cor 14:15: I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. This must be our aim too as we read the Psalms. We don’t want to read them, sing them, or pray them without understanding. Rather, we seek their message by paying careful attention to his words. Indeed, because God is a singing God – as Zephaniah 3:17 says – then he knows something about notes, melodies, and orchestration. And it should not surprise us that in the Psalms . we find an epic soundtrack of salvation. Indeed, the Psalms are not a compilation of 150 bubble pop medleys. They are an epic soundtrack. Don’t think Toby Mac, Third Day, or Hillsong. Think John Williams. Think massive musical movements. Think Beethoven, Bach, Handel. Getting the Feeling (Right) When we look at the Psalms in this way . two things happen. FIRST . We leave behind the world of 4 minute Christian songs . AND SECOND . We enter a world of stunning poetry and sublime theology and symphnony that took 100’s of years to compose. We must remember . the Psalms are not modern in any sense . They speak from the perspective of the individual, but they do not glorify the individual. They elevate God to the highest degree . but never in an academic way. They teach us how to feel . without making us slaves to our feelings. And in the first book . Psalms 1–41 we find THREE THEMES that enables us to get the feeling. In other words, before getting the structure of Book 1 . we need to feel what David felt. FIRST . if you read through Book 1 . you will feel the threat of enemies all around. Psalm 3:1 introduces this threat . likewise, Psalm 7:6 says . READ ATST Psalm 18 tells of how God defeats David’s enemies. READ vv. 1–3 Psalm 23 speaks of the way God sets a table in midst of enemies Psalm 27 teaches us how to trust God when enemy armies surround. So . enemy hostility is the first theme in Book 1. The SECOND note to feel is the repeated . cry for salvation. Look at Psalm 3:7 and 6:4 . READ These petitions for salvation are mixed with confidence in God READ 3:8 and 7:10 Later . Psalm 34 echoes this hope of salvation READ vv. 6, 18 Throughout . God proves himself to be David’s Savior. Which leads us to the THIRD thing to feel – God as our refuge. Refuge-seeking begins in 2:12 . where we see the invitation to seek God as a refuge. In that opening verse . refuge is needed to protect the sinner from God’s wrath . Thereafter, refuge is needed because of enemies . and God’s judgment. So . the FEEL of Book 1 . Swirls around enemy hostility and the need to seek refuge and salvation in God. If you read thru Pss 1–41 . you can’t help but feel David’s plight and his confidence in the Lord. So . if you are feeling vulnerable, threatened, or insecure . this Book is for you! Getting the Structure Next . after getting the feel of Book 1 . we need to see it’s structure THREE THINGS FIRST Psalms 1–2 are the introduction for Book 1. They not only introduce the whole Psalter . but also this first book. So . we will see in Book 1 attention given to the Torah of God – as Psalm 1 emphasizes. And . we will see attention given to God’s kingdom. In fact . in places like Psalm 18 and 19, we will begin to see how the Word of God and the Kingdom of God are related . and in Book 1 we will see how they relate to King David. Which is the the SECOND feature of Book 1 . Not only is it a book that combines instruction with kingdom, it is a book all about David. Every Psalm, except Pss 10 and 33, has a superscription that reads ‘of David.’ And even those two psalms are clearly related to David and his kingdom. Thus . kingship is key theme in this book . and one that will rise and fall and rise again. And I say rise and fall . because the royal themes of David are not a static reality in Book 1. Rather . there are clearly sub-groups in this book which give shape to the Book. In fact, I would characterize Book 1 as having three hills, or three pyramids, and 1 valley. Or to put it in the only musical terms I know. There is a certain strumming pattern in these books. Here’s what I mean . When I learned to play guitar in college . the thing I struggled with was the ‘strumming pattern’ . As a musical novice, I couldn’t figure out how to make chords and strum at the same time. Finally, however, after working on the down-down, up-up, down-up . it came together. Let me suggest . in Book 1, we find a certain kind of strumming pattern. Goes like this à Up-Down, Up-Down, Up-Down, Down-Up Or to drop the metaphor . there are four groups of psalms in Book 1 and they are organized around center psalms which either go up in glory . or down in despair. In this way . they form a certain kind of musical pattern or poetic terrain. You won’t see in other genres . but it’s something you should expect in poetry. The first hill begins with Ps 3 and ends with Ps 14, and takes Ps 8 as the summit. The second hill begins with Ps 15, ends with Ps 24 and takes Ps 19 as the summit The third hill begins with Ps 25, ends at Ps 34, and has Ps 29 as its summit. The fourth section . the final valley . begins in Psalm 35 descends to Psalm 38 . and then ascends to Psalm 41 –the last Psalm in Bk 1. Now . If you’re getting nervous about all this attention to all these literary highs and lows . let me preview the way in which these structures give hope to broken-hearted. What if I told you . God wrote the Psalms to be a spiritual metronome to calibrate your heart? Rather than seeking to explain why you have highs and lows . they give you language and lyrics to regulate your heart – something like a spiritual pacemaker. Indeed . When your heart is beating out of rhythm (or not beating at all) . these mountains and valleys are the very thing . he has given you to comfort your soul? Just as David suffered long before finding comfort in the Lord . so all children of faith are expected to follow a similar pattern. Thus . God gives you these Psalms. Jesus had to learn their rhythm . and all those who want to be like Jesus . who want to be with Jesus must learn them as well. In this way . the Psalms give us the music we need to regulate and refresh our souls. So . This exercise of finding the arrangement of Book 1 is not academic. It is a matter of life and breath, spiritual rest and soul renewal. And thus it is worth our time to learn the structures of the Psalms – 3 hills and 1 valley. FIRST, Psalms 3 – 14 form the first pyramid with Psalm 8 in the middle. How do we know? FIRST, Psalm 8 is one of three creation hymns in Book 1. The other 2 are Ps 19 and Ps 29. And significantly, these are the other 2 summit psalms in Book 1. Pss 8, 19, 29 all speak of creation’s glory . and all are in the center of their respective groups. LISTEN to what it says: READ Psalm 8:3–5 So this Psalm stands out amidst the laments psalms that surround it. SECOND, when it observed that Pss 9/10 form 1 psalm, Psalm 8 is surrounded by 5 psalms on both sides. Now how do we know that Psalms 9-10 are connected? Because, together 9 +10 make up one acrostic poem. Psalm 9 is incomplete without Psalm 10. THIRD, there are linguistic evidences of arrangement. Psalm 8:1 and 8:9 both read – “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.” Whenever you read a refrain like this in Pss, you should ask: What’s going on? And what we find are two sloping sides that come down from the highpoint of man’s glorious crown in Psalm 8:5.